Recently, the project team of miHoYo’s “Genshin Impact” announced that they have officially commenced a joint animation project with the renowned Japanese animation production company Ufotable (Dishonored Table). This marks the launch of an animated version of “Genshin Impact” as the game nears two years since its release. Ufotable has produced numerous acclaimed works such as “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba.” The relevant official stated that the “Genshin Impact” animation project will maintain the game’s high-quality content as a consistent standard, and the team is diligently working on the production.
In the special episode of the game’s new version preview, “Genshin Impact” revealed the concept video for the animation project. The video has garnered over 4 million views on Bilibili. During a game music forum in December 2021, miHoYo’s music director Cai Jinhan mentioned, “miHoYo has never discussed its budget, as we always add more to it.” According to Sensor Tower’s latest report, “Genshin Impact” has generated over $3 billion in revenue from Google Play and App Store.
Can the income from “Genshin Impact” support the significant investment required for future animation production and release? Taking the successful “League of Legends: Arcane” as an example, Riot Games spent six years from the project’s inception in 2015 to its release in 2021, investing heavily in human resources, materials, and finances. In October 2021, Riot Games spent $14.1 million on advertising to promote the “Arcane” series. This figure does not include the production costs.
However, “Arcane” was a successful attempt for Riot Games. In its debut month, the series achieved the highest global ranking on Netflix, and it topped the global chart in 52 countries and regions for three consecutive weeks. The series garnered a rare 100% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes. After airing in China, the animated content from “Arcane” frequently appeared on Weibo’s热搜榜 (Weibo’s Hot Search List), and many players praised it as the “peak of game-to-anime adaptations.” This also helped to introduce “League of Legends” to a broader audience.
Liao Xuhua believes that compared to action games, RPG games like “Genshin Impact” have a stronger narrative and a better foundation for developing IP content, offering more potential for adaptation. This time, “Genshin Impact” will not be produced by miHoYo itself but in collaboration with Ufotable. Liao Xuhua, speaking to Caixin Global, stated that miHoYo is a game company, and although there is some overlap between games and animation, they are fundamentally different production lines. Not only miHoYo, but most Chinese game companies also outsource their animation production to professional animation studios. He believes that miHoYo values Ufotable’s production capabilities.
Ufotable is a well-known company for producing high-quality anime. Its animated films, such as “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba: Infinity Train” in 2020, grossed over $500 million worldwide and topped the box office that year. Apart from “Demon Slayer,” Ufotable is also known for its works “Fate/Zero,” “Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works,” and “The Rose of Versailles: The X.”
“There’s no denying that the artwork is excellent when Ufotable gets involved,” a player commented under the Bilibili concept video.
Everything is geared towards the IP. “Genshin Impact” animation aims to enrich the IP’s depth and influence. As long as the IP continues to thrive, there are still many ways to generate revenue. Since its launch on September 28, 2020, “Genshin Impact” has already become one of the most successful mobile games in the history of doujinshi (二次元, literally “double-dimensional”), with significant IP influence. In China, “Genshin Impact” has over 6 million followers on Weibo and over 13 million on Bilibili. In the international market, the number of fans on YouTube has surpassed 5 million, with video views reaching up to
Tag: MOBA
-
Treabar’s animation initiative for the game ＂Genshin Impact＂ has been launched. How much potential does the IP have？
-
A complex discussion on the character materials of Mingchao Xiakong and the cultural metaphor of the modern game development system
Since the birth of the game industry, the so-called “development system” has been like the foreshadowing and foreshadowing in literature, layered and complicated, tempting players to step into the maze and unable to extricate themselves. The complexity of Xiakong’s material system in “Mingchao” is the epitome of this modern development game and a microscopic reflection of contemporary cultural phenomena.
Xiakong’s breakthrough, skills, and special weapon materials are as complex as stars, and the number is magnificent. Low-frequency to full-frequency tide eclipse sail cores, various crystals, and even materials such as burning phosphorus bones and golden wool, all have profound meanings, which are both practical and meaningful. Such materials are not only “hard currency” in the game, but also like all kinds of resources in modern society, symbolizing that players (that is, modern people) need to find a foothold in the torrent of information.
Let’s first talk about the four-level classification of “Erosion Sail Core”, low frequency, medium frequency, high frequency and even full frequency, which seem to indicate the philosophical implication of “quantitative change leads to qualitative change” in the process of player growth. Low frequency is just a glimpse of the beginning, and high frequency is the peak, just like the different levels of life stages. All these just reveal the cleverness of the game designer – using the increasing difficulty of materials as a clue to outline the trajectory of player growth.
Even better, the introduction of “Burning Phosphorus Bone” and “Golden Fleece” is a stroke of genius. The name of Burning Phosphorus Bone reveals the meaning of heat and sharpening, just like the player facing the sighing ancient dragon, after going through many tests, he can win the treasure. This is no different from those who have experienced disasters and gained true knowledge in classical literature. And the purchase limit setting of “Golden Fleece” is just like the scarce resources in the ancient market, limited and precious, showing the state of cherishing and competition, forcing players to weigh the pros and cons, adding strategic meaning.
The shackles of Xiakong’s special weapon materials range from simple to special, and the word “shackles” is particularly intriguing. Shackles are tools of bondage, implying that although players desire freedom to improve, they are actually locked by the system and cannot escape the shackles of cultivation. This contradiction is just like the double bondage of modern people’s social identity-both self-will and subject to external rules. The game here implies a philosophical thinking about freedom and bondage, which is intriguing.
The four-level classification of crystallized phlogiston is like the trial of an alchemist, from coarse to fine, from impure to high purity, and gradually purified, which is a metaphor for the process of self-improvement of players in the game world. It is obtained by brushing the copy “Condensed Element Domain·Confession Abyss”, which adds the symbolic meaning of religious confession and baptism. Players, like believers, constantly pray, confess, and purify, and finally seek the purest and truest.
The name “Day of Iris Blooming” is poetic, but it hides the challenge mechanism of the game. It requires players to pass the weekly challenge of “Wheel of Fate Fragment” to obtain it, which is intended to point out that the road to growth is not a smooth road, but a tortuous and intermittent journey of fate. The game design here contains a deep understanding of the impermanence of fate, reminding players to be both tenacious and adaptable.
Recharge channels and discount codes are like symbols of money transactions in reality. They not only bring convenience, but also imply the real dilemma of linking growth and payment in the game. Players pay for “growth”, which is also a true portrayal of modern consumer society. This design is undoubtedly a bridge between the game and reality, allowing players to repeatedly weigh between virtual and reality.
In addition, the prop of stuffed meat tofu that improves the drop efficiency of materials is also worth mentioning. It is like a “catalyst” in the game, helping players to accelerate growth within a limited time, reflecting the extreme pursuit of efficiency and speed in modern society. Players are like worker bees squeezed by time in the workplace, striving for breakthroughs in a fast pace, but often feel tired and anxious.
In summary, the material system of Xiakong in Mingchao is not only a detail in game design, but also a microcosm of modern culture. It reveals the hardships and efforts of growth through progressive cultivation materials, reflects the limited and competitive social resources through purchase restriction mechanisms and challenge settings, and reflects the entanglement of money and value in the real world through the introduction of the recharge system.
This kind of design not only allows players to experience a sense of accomplishment, but also forces them to face the dilemma of reality. As Qian Zhongshu wrote, the lives of modern people are full of contradictions and humor, and the cultivation in the game is also the same. It is both a road to freedom and a chain of shackles, a challenge and an opportunity.
Perhaps it is this complex and diverse cultural connotation that makes Mingchao and its Xiakong character stand out from many games and become an important part of modern digital culture. Players here are not only consumers of entertainment, but also participants and interpreters of cultural symbols.
-
Ju Fufu The warm flame in the pot illuminates the heart of comrades
Amid the overlapping mountains of Yunkui Mountain, there is a girl squatting beside the flame, stirring the flame with a popcorn pot. She is Ju Fufu, and what is burning is not only her weapon, but also her deep concern for others.
1. Tenderness and firmness in the flame
Ju Fufu’s hand holding the pot is not panic, and her eyes are bright, like a breeze passing over the lake. Her ordinary attack will be divided into four sections, as if talking to the air. Each section is played, as if she gently tells herself: “I’m still here.” When she ignites the third section of the attack, it seems as if she is determined to climb back after a fall.Her heat gradually rises, like the bubbles coming out of the bottom of the pot due to the continuous heating of the oil temperature – warm, but not anxious. She uses it to protect her own rhythm, and also uses it to call for resonance between comrades.
2. Dodge and spin: pursue the warm free dance steps
When she encounters danger, she will dodge lightly and then sprint quickly. That sprint is not an escape, but like the wind passing through the valley, calm and steady, but determined in direction. Then she will enter the “high-speed rotation” state, like a dandelion seed lifted by the wind, slowly rotating with a soft power.When she touches the enemy, flames burst out of her pot, which is a gentle response: telling the other party in the most powerful way: “I am here”. These actions are like a child spinning in circles on the grass, and like a mature guardian spreading power.
3. Care and resonance in skills
Her special skills, after rotating, are vertically chopped, like a water column rushing down from a mountain spring, clear but impactful. When strengthening the special skills, the pot is ignited with flames, and the heat suddenly soars. That is her silently holding the key to the battle, but still remaining gentle.When she launches a combo skill, she not only hits the enemy, but also passes the flame to her teammates. When she has enough heat, she will automatically detonate the flames in the pot, and the flames and popcorn will erupt. That moment is a warm bloom, but just right. Her pursuit support is the way she puts her power into her teammates, just like a mother holding her child’s hand tightly and caressing it at a critical moment, but not too close – that is trust and respect.
4. Warm protection in support skills
Her support skills can be used in three ways. When the current operating character is knocked away, she will rush over quickly to block an attack for him; when the front character is about to be hit, she will parry the knife; and after launching the support parry, she will also bring the pot to add an effective attack. Those actions are both power and comfort, the heartbeat that beats at the critical moment, and the warm response after mutual understanding with companions.5. Core skills: A pot of flame waiting
Her popcorn pot will not be taken back immediately, but stay on the battlefield to continue attacking the enemy. It is a lasting companionship; it continues to flash in the dark, like a lighthouse at night, guiding lost people. When the pot hits the enemy, she gains heat – a silent feedback, the echo of the battle.When the heat is high, her pot will automatically start the pot-opening skill, bringing a “hot” bonus to the whole team. She uses warm flames to turn loneliness in battle into a connection, allowing everyone to feel the power of being protected. At that moment, the increase in critical hits and finishing skills is not just a numerical increase, but a collective power that is affirmed and strengthened. This empowerment flows with her care and trust.
6. Imagery: Details of Love
M1 makes her appear with 100 points of heat as soon as she appears, as if she brings the light of fire and love when she enters the battlefield. The M2 setting allows her to get additional heat and a critical hit after the team’s finishing skills, as if every time someone bravely tries, she always encourages him to make a braver decision behind his back. M4 and M6 allow her to bring extra power in joint and ordinary attacks. It is her tiny but continuous efforts to sow the seeds of care on the battlefield.7. Conclusion: Warm as fire, firm as a mountain
Tachibana Fu Fu’s battle is not just about slashing and supporting, but also a manifestation of love and trust. She uses fire and pots to create a warm shield when her comrades are on the verge of collapse; she uses heat to transform the cold battlefield into a safe haven; she uses cooperation to make every cooperation a mutual affirmation; she uses a fiery state to melt wounds and fatigue into new strength.She is not the hero under the spotlight of the protagonist, but the light that never goes out behind the stage – gentle, firm, illuminating the souls who are still fighting. Her every move is an example of love and responsibility for the team.
The popcorn pot rotating in the flames is not just a weapon, but also a belief: when the world is too cold, please remember that someone is waiting for you with a fiery heart.